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��THE SYMBOLIZED WEDDING-DAY.
��THE SYMBOLIZED WEDDING-DAY,
��BY MRS. AMARETT GLEASON.
��It was Harry Lettredge's wedding day. He was to lead to the altar sweet Kittie Mordant, the fairest daughter of all the land. The fashionable circles of the little city had been jubilant these past weeks in anticipation of the coming event, in lay- ing out flowery paths and overhanging cloudless skies for the happy pair; for every body declared it not only the wed- ding of the season, but the uniting of soul-lit hearts by spiritual bands of adap- tation.
Harry Lettredge was just the man to reach forward and secure the prize which for so long had stood in its bewitching beauty far above the reach of those who had revolved like money-sheathed satel- lites around its parental pedestal. Just above the medium height, he bore a form erect and symmetrical; and yet, while he swayed his body with a graceful bear- ing, you would know by the way he set his foot upon the pavement that a pur- pose lay buried within which would some day arouse and show itself with marked distinction. Although not proud and haughty, in the sense the world de- fines those elements, yet there was enough of the French Corsican blood from which he descended to give him an air of pride and gallantry; while his broad high forehead and keen, though pleasant, black eye acted as tell-tales of an intellect both strong and brilliant; at the same time his fine moral and reli- gious principle, his upright and gentle- manly deportment, his cordial and genial greeting during his daily business inter- course had won for him a reputation and friendship of which he might well feel proud; while sweet Kittie Mordant, with her innocent loveliness, seemed just the counterpart of his other self. Although reared in a luxurious home, beneath the protecting care of indulgent parents, yet those finer elements which interlace
��themselves in the formation of a beauti- ful wife and loving mother had not been neglected, or buried beneath a mass of fashionable accomplishments, but instead had been brought to the surface and cul- tivated by the good sense and foresight of her most worthy parents. Although her lips were wreathed with a sweet, hap- py smile, yet when you saw the flashing of her deep blue eye, you felt that some- thing powerful lay hidden beyond, and your very heart stood still while you list- ened to her outgushings of thought and feeling ; — therefore, their approaching union was like the coming together of two opposite clouds, blending and form- ing one beautiful whole ; or the tones of two voices, the one a sweet soprano, the other a smooth basso, uniting and sending forth strains of perfect harmony.
��Never a more lovely morning dawned. It seemed as if the day-queen had donned her most brilliant array, that she might be accepted as an honored guest to the wedding. But towards the approaching hour for the confirmation of those vows so sacredly given, a heavy cloud had gathered, and already the rain-drops be- gan to patter against the window-pane. The wedding party had breakfasted at the home of the bride, and now most of them were busy arranging their wedding garments. In the parlor, in an easy chair, and just within the folds of the drapery which festooned the bay win- dow, half reclined a middle-aged lady, her handsome face resting upon one hand, while the other hung listless by her side, — so lost in her own meditations that she did not hear the approaching footsteps upon the soft carpet, or realize the loving presence on a cushion at her feet, until a tender arm encircled her waist, and the pressing of two lips upon the disengaged hand at her side.
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